A lazy day on the island

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Wednesday, April 16th.
Today we mainly just took our time and got to know the island. We walked down into Nelly Bay and rented…I’m meant hired, a Moke (see pictures). At first I thought these were home built cars but later found out that they were built in the late 60’s by makers of the Mini. Moke stands for donkey. We wanted the experience of driving on the left side of the street and thought this would be safer that learning in Perth…..not sure that’s true. The first thing you learn about driving on the left side is looking right. My brother-in-law David warned me about this before leaving but I learned fast what he tried to tell me. The other thing you learn is that on the left applies to everything e.g leaving the parking lot, passing people on the sidewalk etc. it does take some getting used to. The actual driving by sitting on the right side of the vehicle is not as awkward as I thought it would be. The cluch, brake and gas peddle are in the same places as the USA. The shifter is on the left but that didn’t seem to be hard to use.

We drove to both ends of the island, all 8kl of it, followed closely by islanders in a hurry to get where they were going. We thought they would be more laid back but it seems that life is life and we all are in a hurry to go or do something. The vegetation here is quite different that what we’ve experienced before. Lots of different trees and plaints. The evergreens that have here almost look like they have been trimmed. The island is made of big rocks that are very impressive.

We made our way over to Horseshoe Bay and took a swim in the surf of the Coral Sea BUT you have to be within a Stinger Net to keep from having a bad encounter with jelly fish that “bite”. We found some Black Maccaws that live here. The pictures don’t do them justice. They have red and orange on their tails but I didn’t get a good picture of them.
The wind has been very strong here in the evenings and all night long. We’re not sure if we are going to get to go diving tomorrow given the wind. Sure hope we do.

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Comments

[Keith Thomson]

G'Day
G'day' I am sure glad that you are getting into things ozzie. Now you know how it is driving on the right side of the road (emphasis on right) rather that on the right hand side of the road (lol) Sounds like you are having a great time. Enjoy. Keith

[Lisa]

Hey there!
Ooh...looks like fun! The banyon trees, the macaws, the landscapes, they're all awesome! But you know me, if I had a camera in hand, that's exactly what I'd be taking pictures of as well. Hope you both are still enjoying your trip thus far. Talk to you later!

[Anne Thomson]

Hi
Glad to see you're surviving on foreign soil! Look forward to seeing you on Sturday night. (Which side of the plane will your pilot sit on?) Anne

[Tracy Osburn]

Rocko
I want to ride in Rocko!!